A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a more resistant layer or layers of harder rock, e.g. shales overlain by sandstones. The resistant layer acts as a caprock that forms the flat summit of a mesa. The caprock can consist of either sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and limestone; dissected lava flows; or a deeply eroded duricrust. Unlike plateau, whose usage does not imply horizontal layers of bedrock, e.g. Tibetan Plateau, the term mesa applies exclusively to the landforms built of flat-lying strata. Instead, flat-topped plateaus are specifically known as tablelands.
Zhanhe District is under the jurisdiction of Pingdingshan City, Henan Province, which is located in the southern half of Pingdingshan City. The geographical center coordinates are 33 °42 "27.01" north latitude and 113 °15 °56.08 "east longitude. Zhanhe District faces Xinhua District and Weidong District in the north, Ye County in the east and south, Lushan County in the southwest, and Baiguishan Reservoir in the northwest. The total area is 123.5 square kilometers. As of 2013, Zhanhe District has jurisdiction over 1 town, 1 township, 6 streets, a total of 69 administrative villages and 28 communities. The total population is 288000, of which 176700 are urban residents. There are 13 ethnic groups, including Han nationality, Hui nationality, Manchu nationality and Mongolian nationality. From January to September 2014, the GDP of Zhanhe District reached 7.38 billion yuan, compared with the same period in 2013.